566 Ascites. 



thoracic duet or from the lymph vessels of the intestinal wall as a result of peri- 

 toneal carcinoma. Nothing special could be found in the peritoneum in Wohlmuth's 

 case. The fluid is milk-white, it contains a large number of lymph corpuscles, 

 and on standing a creamy layer forms composed of fat droplets. Storch found 

 that the liquid obtained from Wohlmuth's case was alkaline (in contradistinction 

 to the amphoteric reaction of milk), the specific gravity 1015, the fat droplets 

 were very minute and the percentage of fat was 7.6. There was a little sugar, 

 fibrin, globulin and albumin. 



Bennert, Joachim and others have shown that the milk-like appearance of 

 transudates that occur in the peritoneal cavity of man is sometimes due to a pseudo- 

 globulin which contains lecithin. Tn such cases the addition of ether and potassium 

 hydrate does not cause the liquid to clear up. 



Symptoms. The presence of large quantities of liquid in 

 the peritoneum is evidenced by a distension of the abdomen. 

 In emaciated animals this distension appears larger than it 

 really is as it is in contrast with the wasted quarters. The more 

 or less enlarged al)domen (Fig. 74) varies in shape according to 

 as it is looked at from before or behind. In the downward di- 



Fig. 73. Sediment of ascitic fluid, a. Endothelial cells infiltrated with fat, b. whits 

 corpuscles, c. red corpuscles. 



rection it gradually increases and reaches its maximum in the 

 neighborhood of the white line. The flanks fall in and the trans- 

 verse processes of the lumbar vertebrae and the last ribs become 

 prominent. In some cases the spines of the lumbar vertebrae 

 form a convex line. In small short-coated animals the abdom- 

 inal wall stands out behind the costal arch because this offers 

 a greater resistance to the pressure of the liquid than the soft 

 abdominal wall. The lower line of the abdomen becomes hori- 

 zontal (Fig. 75) or curves downwards and extends below the line 

 of the sternum (pendulous belly). In the dog the abdomen 

 sometimes comes in contact with the ground and the umbilicus 

 may appear as a hemispherical translucent projection. The 



